Category Archives: OS MasterMap

OS Building Height Attribute now available in file geodatabase format

Posted on by
3D Building Heights in ArcGIS

© Crown Copyright and Database Right 2015. Ordnance Survey (Digimap Licence)

We are pleased to announce that users can now download OS MasterMap Building Height Attribute data in file geodatabase format. The data consists of building polygons together with the building height attributes supplied by OS in the latest alpha release of their Building Height Attribute dataset (December 2014 at the time of writing).

This makes the process of visualising the data in 3D much simpler for the majority of GIS users. The file geodatabase format can be read by both QGIS and ArcGIS, including the new ArcGIS Pro, without the need for any complex data processing. Making the data available in file geodatabase format removes the need for users to download building features from OS MasterMap Topography Layer and then use the JOIN function in GIS to connect the Building Height Attribute data to the buildings.

3D Buildings in ArcGIS

© Crown Copyright and Database Right 2015. Ordnance Survey (Digimap Licence)

The data is supplied on a 5x5km grid, so you may receive multiple separate geodatabases if your area covers multiple 5km grid cells, however it is easy to merge the datasets together using common GIS functions.

We hope this makes it much easier to use the data but we welcome any feedback you may have.

  • Email: edina@ed.ac.uk
  • Phone: 0131 650 3302

Share

Digimap Data: New datasets coming in the New Year

Posted on by

The new Ordnance Survey Licence includes some new and very interesting datasets for the Digimap service. We have already added OS Terrain 5, Ordnance Survey’s most detailed digital terrain model and contour data to the the Data Download facility. The other new datasets will require some additional effort to add into the service but we should have them available to download early in the new year. These new datasets are as follows:

OS MasterMap ITN Urban Paths

Routing information for walkers and cyclists in towns and cities.

More Info from Ordnance Survey…

OS MasterMap Sites LayerOS MasterMap Sites Layer

Identifies areas as being in categories such as schools, hospitals, transport facilities etc. The data also highlights access points to the sites and routing destinations for more accurate travel distances.

More Info from Ordnance Survey…

Points of Interest

Over 4 million points of interest classified into 3 tiers; 9 groups, 52 categories and 616 classes. The points of interest include accommodation, eating and drinking, commercial services, attractions, sport and entertainment, education and health, public infrastructure, manufacturing and production,retail, and transport.

More Info from Ordnance Survey…

EDINA has had many requests for these datasets, especially the Urban Paths so we are very pleased to be able to offer them to you. We also intend adding some of these datasets to Digimap Roam so that they can be added to the maps you view and print as well.

Please contact the EDINA help desk if you want access to the datasets mentioned above before they are made available in the Data Download service:

  • Phone: 0131 6503302
  • Email: edina@ed.ac.uk

Share

Visualising OS MasterMap® Topography Layer Building Height Attribute in AutoCAD Map 3D and InfraWorks

Posted on by

We’ve recently written blogs on visualising OS MasterMap® Topography Layer Building Height Attribute (BHA) data in ESRI’s ArcGIS and ArcGlobe and also QGIS. These blogs have proved very popular so we have written a 3rd instalment on how to achieve similar results using Autodesk products using AutoCAD Map3D and InfraWorks.

Please see the previous post for information on BHA data coverage, an explanation of the different height attributes supplied by Ordnance Survey (OS) and for details of further information sources; including the excellent Getting Started Guide produced by OS. Please remember this is an alpha release of the data and OS do not guarantee that BHA is error free or accurate. Additionally the dataset is not yet subject to update and maintenance.

Getting Started

Download the following datasets for your area of interest from Digimap using the OS Data Download application:

  1. OS MasterMap® Topography Layer: select ‘GML’ as the format for your data rather than ‘DWG’ as we need to get to some of the raw data values stored in the GML file, and limit your download to just the Buildings using the Layers drop-down in the basket.
  2. OS Terrainâ„¢ 50 DTM: this will be used as the base (surface) heights for the area;
  3. BHA data (BHA data is found in the ‘OS MasterMap’ group): select CSV as the format;
  4. Optionally download any additional data you may wish to use as a backdrop draped over the DTM surface, in this example we’re going to use OS MasterMap® 1:2,000 Raster but other datasets could be used.

Preparing BHA data for use

If your downloaded BHA data is made up of more than one CSV file we recommend merging them all together in to a single CSV file first to make subsequent processing easier and quicker. Use a text editor such as Notepad or TextPad rather than Excel, as Excel can change the formatting of numbers which contain leading zeros.

Each object in MasterMap Topography Layer has a unique identifier called a Topographic Identifier, or TOID for short. TOIDs supplied by OS take the format of a 13 or 16 digit number prefixed with ‘osgb’ e.g. ‘osgb1000039581300′ or ‘osgb1000002489201973′. Some applications, including AutoCAD Map 3D , automatically strip off the ‘osgb’ prefix and add three leading zeros to any TOID that has only 13 digits to make them all 16 characters long. In order to make it easier to join BHA data to building features in MasterMap® Topography Layer the BHA files supplied by EDINA have two TOID values:

  • os_topo_toid_digimap is the TOID formatted to match TOIDs in AutoCAD Map 3D, ArcGIS and in the File Geodatabase format supplied through Digimap.
  • os_topo_toid is the original TOID as supplied by Ordnance Survey

You should check the TOID values in your MasterMap data and those in the BHA data to ensure that there is a common field that you can use to match on; we will use os_topo_toid_digimap as this field in the BHA data matches the TOID values in the MasterMap data when used in AutoCAD Map 3D.

Open the merged CSV file in Excel. To ensure that the data is displayed correctly in Excel you should import the data as follows:

  1. Open a blank Excel document then use the ‘From Text’ option which can be found on the Data ribbon.  This allows you to specify the correct field delimiter and data types for the TOID columns, ensuring they are imported as text fields, show image.
  2. Import the data as a ‘delimited’ file, show image.
  3. Specify ‘Comma’ as your delimiter, show image.
  4. On the Text Import Wizard – Step 3 of 3 window select the first column in the ‘Data Preview’ section and set the ‘Column data format’ to ‘Text’. Repeat this step for the second column. This ensures that Excel treats the two TOID columns as text rather than numbers so doesn’t strip off the leading zero’s from any of the values (which are needed when joining the data to the building features in MasterMap later on), show image.
  5. Press Finish to complete the process, after which your data in Excel should look like the image below with the TOID values in the first column all 16 characters long and including three leading zero characters where necessary:Excel showing TOID values imported as text
  6. AutoCAD Map 3D requires a ‘named range’ of cells to connect to. To create this highlight/select all cells that contain data in the workbook and using the ‘Name Box’ give this selection of cells a name. In the screen grab below we have called the selection ‘BuildingHeightValues’ (note your name cannot include spaces):
    Excel named range
  7. Save your file as an .xslx file.
  8. The next step is to use the Windows ODBC Data Source Administrator to create a connection that points to this .xlsx file. Open the ODBC Data Source Administrator, the easiest way of doing this is to use the Windows search tool to search for ‘ODBC Data Source’.
    ODBC Data Connection Administrator
  9. On the ‘User DSN’ tab press the ‘Add…’ button to create a new ODBC connection:
    Add ODBC Connection
  10. Select ‘Microsoft Excel Driver’ and press the Finish button.
  11. Give your connection a name in the ‘Data Source Name’ field, and using the ‘Select Workbook…’ button browse and select the .xlsx file created above.
    ODBC Select File
  12. Press OK and the newly created User DSN will be listed:
    ODBC Data Source Administrator
  13. Press OK to close the ODBC Data Source Administrator.

Preparing MasterMap Topography Layer GML data for use

  1. Open AutoCAD Map 3D.
  2. At the command prompt type: MAPIMPORT, or select ‘Map Import’ from the Insert menu.
    AutoCAD Map 3D Map Import
  3. Browse to the .gz file downloaded from Digimap, ensure the ‘Files of type’ drop-down is set to ‘OS (GB) Mastermap (*.gml, *.xml, *.gz)’.
    AutoCAD Map 3D Browse
  4. Import just the TopographicArea layer by deselecting all other layers in the import dialog.
    AutoCAD Map 3D Import
  5. Click on the word <None> in the Data Column for the TopographicArea layer.
  6. In the Attribute Data window select ‘Create object data’ and press OK.
    AutoCAD Map 3D Attribute Data
  7. Select ‘Import polygons as closed polylines’ and press OK.
    AutoCAD Map 3D Closed Polylines
  8. The data will be imported in to your current map window. Note you may need to select View > Extents to see the data.
  9. The data needs to be converted to an .sdf file to allow the Building Height Attribute data to be joined to it.
    1. At the command prompt type: MAPEXPORT
    2. Select ‘Autodesk SDF (*.sdf)’ as the file type.
    3. On the Feature Class tab, click on the ‘Select Attributes…’ button.
    4. In the Select Attributes window select ‘Object Data’ and press OK.
      AutoCAD Map 3D Select Attributes
    5. On the Map Export window press OK to export the data.
  10. Connect to the .sdf file just created:
    1. In the Task Pane select Data > Connect to Data…
      AutoCAD Map 3D Connect To Data
    2. Select ‘Add SDF Connection’.
      AutoCAD Map 3D Add SDF Connection
    3. Give your connection a name and browse to the .sdf file exported in the previous step.
    4. Click the Connect button to establish the connection.
    5. Press the ‘Add to Map’ button to add this data to your current map window.
      AutoCAD Map 3D Add to map

You have now added MasterMap buildings to your current map window, the next step is to connect to the Building Height Attribute (Excel spreadsheet) and join it to the building features in MasterMap.

Joining Building Height Attribute to buildings in MasterMap

  1. Connect to the BHA spreadsheet using the ODBC connection:
    1. In the Task Pane select Data > Connect to Data…
    2. Select ‘Add ODBC Connection’
    3. Give your connection a name and select the Data Source Name created above using the ‘…’ button next to the ‘Source’ field.
      AutoCAD Map 3D select DNS
    4. Press the ‘Test Connection’ button.
      AutoCAD Map 3D create ODBC connection
    5. The table in the bottom half of the window will display all named ranges in your spreadsheet, we called our named range ‘BuildingHeightValues’. Before you can select this range for use in AutoCAD Map 3D you need to select a column to use as the ‘Identify Property’. To do this click on the text that says ‘<Click to select>’.
      AutoCAD Map 3D create ODBC connection
    6. In the drop-down that appears put a tick in the box next to the value ‘os_topo_toid_digimap’.
      AutoCAD Map 3D create ODBC connection
    7. Now you can tick the box next to the named range in the spreadsheet and press the ‘Connect’ button.
      AutoCAD Map 3D create ODBC connection
    8. The connection details will be displayed.
      AutoCAD Map 3D create ODBC connection
    9. The Data Connection window can now be closed.
  2. In the Task Pane right click on the MasterMap data and select ‘Create a Join…’
    AutoCAD Map 3D create a join
  3. Join detailsIn the ‘Create a Join’ window:
    1. select the building height data (in the Excel spreadsheet) as the ‘Table (or feature class) to join to’;
    2. select ‘TOID’ in the left hand drop-down menu;
    3. select ‘os_topo_toid_digimap’ in the right hand drop-down menu;
    4. select ‘Keep only left-side records with a match’ in the ‘Type of Join’ section;
    5. press ‘OK’ to create the join.
  4. To verify that the Join has worked, open the data table for the MasterMap data, this is done in the Task Pane by selecting the MasterMap data then pressing the ‘Table’ button. The table will be displayed, scroll to the right to see the joined building height values:
    AutoCAD Map 3D attribute table
  5. The final step is to export the joined data as a new .sdf file which we can then visualise in 3D in InfraWorks. This is done by either right clicking on the MasterMap layer in the Task Pane and selecting ‘Export Layer Data to SDF…’ or by using the ‘Export to SDF’ function on the ‘Vector Layer’ ribbon in the ‘Save’ group.

Visualising the data in 3D using Autodesk InfraWorks

So far we have downloaded OS MasterMap® Topography Layer and BHA data for the same area and joined the two together to create a new dataset containing just the building features which now include the various height attributes published by OS. We also downloaded additional data to use as a backdrop draped over the DTM surface, in this example we will use OS MasterMap® 1:2,000 Raster, but OS VectorMap® Local Raster or OS 1:25,000 Scale Colour Raster would also be suitable depending on the scale of your study area.

Visualising the data in 3D is achieved using Autodesk’s InfraWorks product . The steps below describe how to use the application to create a 3D model:

  1. Open InfraWorks and create a new model.
  2. Specify a location to save the model and give it a name:
    InfraWorks New Model
  3. Click and drag the OS Terrain 50 DTM in to InfraWorks; the file to drag is the one with the .asc extension.
  4. In the Data Source Configuration window, ensure the Type is set to ‘Terrain’ and Coordinate System is set to ‘BritishNatGrid’:
    InfraWorks Data Source DTM
  5. Press the ‘Close & Refresh’ button; the DTM should be displayed:
    InfraWorks showing DTM only
  6. Click and drag the final .sdf file created in the final step of the previous section which contains the heighted building data (i.e. the .sdf file created after joining the MasterMap buildings to the Building Height Attribute data spreadsheet).
  7. In the Data Source Configuration window, set the ‘Type’ drop-down to ‘Buildings’ and select a suitable ‘Roof Height’ attribute using the drop-down on the Common tab. As with previous blogs we have used the RelH2 attribute as we found this gave the best overall representation of building heights relative to each other:
    Data source configuration
  8. On the ‘Geo Location’ tab select ‘BritishNatGrid’ as the coordinate system:
    Data source configuration
  9. On the Source tab select ‘Drape’ from the drop-down under the ‘Draping Options’:
    Data source configuration
  10. Press the ‘Close & Refresh’ button, the buildings should now be displayed on top of the DTM, you may need to pan or zoom to view the data:

    InfraWorks with 3d buildings draped over OS Terrain50

    OS Terrain™ 50 with buildings from OS MasterMap® Topography Layer extruded on top using Building Height Attribute data.

  11. To give some more context to the visualisation you can drape additional raster layers on top of the DTM such as OS MasterMap® 1:2,000 Raster. This is done by selecting all the raster files and dragging them in to the InfraWorks window.
  12. In the Data Source Configuration window ensure ‘Type’ is set to ‘Ground Imagery’, and one the ‘Geo Location’ tab select the ‘BritishNatGrid’ Coordinate System:
  13. Select the ‘Close & Refresh’ button and the map data will be draped over the DTM surface:

    Infraworks with Terrain50 DTM, MasterMap 1:2,500 Raster and Heighted Buidlings

    OS MasterMap® 1:2,000 Raster draped on top of OS Terrain™ 50, with buildings from OS MasterMap® Topography Layer extruded on top using Building Height Attribute data.

The finished visualisation

The screen grab below shows the final visualisation centred on Biggar using OS MasterMap® 1:2,000 Raster as the surface layer.

InfraWorks visualisation

OS MasterMap® 1:2,000 Raster draped on top of OS Terrain™ 50, with buildings from OS MasterMap® Topography Layer extruded on top using Building Height Attribute data.

Share

Visualising OS MasterMap® Topography Layer Building Height Attribute in QGIS

Posted on by

Our recent blog post about visualising OS MasterMap® Topography Layer Building Height Attribute (BHA) data in ArcGIS and ArcGlobe prompted a number of questions about whether it’s possible to do something similar in open source software. In this post we’ll show you how to achieve something similar using QGIS and the freely available Qgis2ThreeJS plugin.

Please see the previous post for information on BHA data coverage, an explanation of the different height attributes supplied by Ordnance Survey (OS) and for details of further information sources; including the excellent Getting Started Guide produced by OS. Please remember this is an alpha release of the data and OS do not guarantee that BHA is error free or accurate. Additionally the dataset is not yet subject to update and maintenance.

Getting started

  1. Download the following datasets for your area of interest from Digimap using the OS Data Download application:
    1. OS MasterMap® Topography Layer: select the ‘File Geodatabase’ format for your data as this format does not require any conversion to use it in QGIS;
    2. OS Terrainâ„¢ 50 DTM: this will be used as the base (surface) heights for the area;
    3. BHA data (BHA data is found in the ‘OS MasterMap’ group): select CSV as the format;
    4. Optionally download any additional data you may wish to use as a backdrop, such as OS VectorMap® Local Raster or OS 1:25,000 Scale Colour Raster;
  2. Open QGIS and load in the OS MasterMap® Topography Layer, OS Terrain™ 50 DTM and your backdrop map data.

Preparing BHA data for use

If your downloaded BHA data is made up of more than one CSV file we recommend merging them all together in to a single CSV file first to make subsequent processing easier and quicker. Use a text editor such as Notepad or TextPad rather than Excel, as Excel can change the formatting of numbers which contain leading zeros.

Each object in MasterMap Topography Layer has a unique identifier called a Topographic Identifier, or TOID for short. TOIDs supplied by OS take the format of a 13 or 16 digit number prefixed with ‘osgb’ e.g. ‘osgb1000039581300′ or ‘osgb1000002489201973′. Some applications, such as ArcGIS, automatically strip off the ‘osgb’ prefix and add three leading zeros to any TOID that has only 13 digits to make them all 16 characters long. Additionally this same formatting is applied to the File Geodatabase format of MasterMap supplied through Digimap. In order to make it easier to join BHA data to building features in MasterMap® Topography Layer the BHA files supplied by EDINA have two TOID values:

  • os_topo_toid_digimap is the TOID formatted to match TOIDs in ArcGIS and in the File Geodatabase format supplied through Digimap.
  • os_topo_toid is the original TOID as supplied by Ordnance Survey

You should check the TOID values in your MasterMap data and those in the BHA data to ensure that there is a common field that you can use to match on; we will use os_topo_toid_digimap as this field in the BHA data matches the TOID values in the MasterMap data downloaded in File Geodatabase format from Digimap.

Before BHA data can be loaded in to QGIS it is necessary to create a small text file (called filename.csvt, where ‘filename’ is the name of your BHA csv file) that specifies the data type of each field so that QGIS handles it correctly. Specifically the .csvt file is used to ensure that QGIS treats the two TOID  values as text rather than numbers, and all height values as numbers. The steps required are detailed below:

  1. Create a new file called filename.csvt (replacing ‘filename‘ with the name of your BHA csv file) in the same folder as the BHA csv file you wish to import.
  2. Open the file in a text editor such as Notepad or TextPad.
  3. Copy and paste the following text in to the file: 
    "String","String","Integer","Date","String","Real","Real","Real","Real","Real","Integer"
  4. Save your changes to the file. Ensure it is saved in the same folder as the CSV file you wish to import.
  5. Add your BHA CSV file to QGIS through the Add Vector Layer function; this will add the data as a table in the QGIS project.

Creating a heighted buildings dataset

In order to create a new heighted buildings dataset from the building features in OS MasterMap Topography Layer and the BHA data we use the GIS ‘join’ function. A join links these two datasets together through a common unique identifier (the TOID) resulting in a set of buildings with height values stored as additional attributes.

  1. Bring up the Layer Properties dialog for the Topographic Area layer in the MasterMap data either by double clicking on the layer in the Layer panel or by right clicking on the layer and selecting Properties from the pop-up menu.
  2. Select the ‘Joins’ tab on the left hand side to display the join panel:
    QGIS Join Window
  3. Press the green plus button to add a new join:
    1. QGIS add vector joinSelect your BHA dataset as the ‘Join Layer’.
    2. Select the correct TOID field that matches the TOIDs in your MasterMap data; as mentioned above we’re using os_topo_toid_digimap as the formatting of this matches the TOIDs supplied in the MasterMap data downloaded from Digimap in File Geodatabase format.
    3. In the ‘Target Field’ select the attribute column that contains the TOIDs in your MasterMap® data; by default this is called ‘TOID’ in MasterMap downloaded from Digimap.
    4. Leave the checkbox selected to ‘cache join layer in virtual memory’ as this will speed up query and display of the data.
    5. Press OK to create the join.
  4. Press OK on the Layer Properties dialog to close the window.
  5. Open the attribute table for the TopographicArea MasterMap layer to verify the join has worked. You will see the additional BHA columns at the end of the attribute table. Note you will see a lot of ‘null’ values in these additional columns as BHA values are only available for ‘building’ features (the TopograhicArea feature class contains features for everything, not just buildings).
  6. Having joined the datasets together, before we can create a heighted buildings dataset we need to select only those buildings which now have height information. This is done using the QGIS ‘Select features using an expression’ button: QGIS select by expression button
  7. QGIS select by expression windowWe are looking to select only features which have a value for the height attribute we wish to use in the 3D visualisation. As mentioned in the previous post, we have found that the ‘RelH2′ attribute provides a good representation of the height of buildings relative to one another. The expression used is shown below. Note the field name, in quotes below, is automatically created by QGIS by adding the BHA table name (NT27) to the attribute column name (RelH2) with an underscore between them: 
    "NT27_relh2" IS NOT Null

    QGIS save vector layer

  8. Having selected just the buildings that include height information we can now export these features as a new dataset by right clicking on the TopographicArea dataset in the Layer panel and selecting ‘Save As…’ from the pop-up menu.
  9. Save the dataset as a new Shapefile in a suitable location, selecting the checkboxes ‘save only selected features’ and ‘add saved file to map’.
  10. The newly created heighted buildings dataset will be added to your QGIS project; now it’s time to visualise it in 3D.

Visualising the data in 3D

So far we have downloaded OS MasterMap® Topography Layer and BHA data for the same area and joined the two together to create a new dataset containing just the building features which now include the various height attributes published by OS. We also downloaded OS Terrain™ 50 DTM to use as the surface heights, 1:25,000 Colour Raster and OS VectorMap® Local Raster to drape over the surface.

Visualising the data in 3D in QGIS is achieved using the Qgis2ThreeJS plugin, which can be installed using the QGIS plugin manager if you don’t have it already. The steps below describe how to use the plugin to create a 3D model:

  1. Ensure you have all the data loaded in to your QGIS project that you wish to include in the 3D model, as a minimum you should have your DTM, the heighted buildings dataset and a suitable map layer to drape over the DTM.
  2. Turn off all layers in the Layers panel apart from the surface you wish to drape over the DTM; the buildings will be styled using the Qgis2ThreeJS plugin.
  3. Launch the plugin, which can be found on the Web toolbar.
  4. Using the ‘DEM’ panel of the plugin select your DTM data as the ‘DEM Layer’, leave all other settings at their default values. Tip: by default the surface has a vertical exaggeration of 1.5, if you wish to reduce or increase this, the setting is configured on the ‘World’ panel of the plugin.
  5. Qgis2ThreeJS plugin windowIn the ‘Polygon’ panel of the plugin select your heighted buildings dataset and complete the following settings:
    1. Z coordinate: set to ‘Height from surface’ – this will ensure the buildings sit on the DTM surface.
    2. Under ‘Style’: ensure the ‘Object type’ is set to ‘Extruded’ and select the height attribute you wish to use for the extrusion using the ‘Height’ drop down; as mentioned above, we’re using the RelH2 attribute from OS which is in the column ‘NT27_relh2′ in our data.
    3. Select suitable colours and transparency, we used a medium grey colour with 10% transparency to give a glasshouse effect.
  6. Optionally specify an ‘Output HTML file path’ to save the resultant files. Whilst you’re experimenting we recommend you leave this blank and the plugin will save the data in a temporary location, when you’re happy with the result you can use this setting to save your final visualisation.
  7. Press ‘Run’ to create the 3D model. Once it’s finished processing the model will open in your default web browser.

The plugin outputs an HTML file, along with a small number of accompanying files. The HTML file requires a WebGL compatible browser (WebGL is a method of generating dynamic 3D graphics using JavaScript), most modern browsers are WebGL compatible including IE 11, FireFox, Chrome, Safari and Opera, the Can I Use site offers further information on browser compatibility.

As the files are output as a web page, you can share the results of your work with colleagues without them needing to have any specialist GIS software, however you are not permitted to make the website publicly available as the html and javaScript files contain map data rather than just images of maps.  The Licence does not permit the sharing of licensed data from Digimap with anyone other than registered users of the service: Digimap Licence

Tips

  • The plugin uses the extents of the current QGIS map canvas, so the bigger the area being displayed, the bigger the generated 3D scene and the slower it will display. We have found that areas of up to 10km² display okay, anything bigger tends to be a little slow to respond.
  • If you wish to define specific extents for your 3D scene instead of using the map canvas extents this can be done on the ‘World’ panel of the plugin.
  • Applying a vertical exaggeration to your buildings is achieved through the ‘Multiplier’ setting on the ‘Polygon’ panel of the plugin.
  • You can create 3D models of multiple layers. For example in the screen shot below the trees were created by selecting the ‘Positioned Non Coniferous Trees’ from the OS MasterMap Topographic Point layer. These were then added to the QGIS project twice. Using the plugin one of these layers was extruded as a brown cylinder with a radius of 0.75m and a height of 3m to form the trunk; the other was extruded as a green sphere with a radius of 4.5m and a z coordinate of 4.5m (i.e. the height above the ground surface of the centre of the sphere) to form the tree canopy:
QGIS 3D visualisation with trees

OS VectorMap® Local Raster draped on top of OS Terrain™ 50, with buildings from OS MasterMap® Topography Layer Building Height Attribute and Positioned Non Coniferous Trees extruded on top

The finished visualisation

The screen grab below shows the final visualisation centred on the south side of Edinburgh using OS 1:25,000 Colour Raster as the surface layer.

3D visualisation

1:25,000 Colour Raster draped on top of OS Terrain™ 50, with buildings from OS MasterMap® Topography Layer extruded on top using Building Height Attribute data.

Share

OS MasterMap® now available in File Geodatabase format from Digimap

Posted on by

To get the most from OS MasterMap data it is usually best to convert it from its supplied format, GML, to a format better suited to the software you are going to use it in. For our CAD users Digimap has been offering the DWG format for several months (see previous blog post); now we are offering a format that makes the data easier to use in GIS software.

Although Shapefile is still the most commonly requested GIS format it cannot handle the large file sizes (over 2GB) that could be requested from the Data Download service; an area of 100km2 in an urban centre would exceed this limit.  We therefore turned to the File Geodatabase format that works in the two most commonly used GIS software applications, ArcGIS and QGIS. There is more information about Geodatabases on Wikipedia here: Wikipedia -ArcGIS Geodatabase

To select the File Geodatabase format, add some MasterMap to your basket in Data Download. Once in the basket you can click the down arrow in the Format column and change it from the default GML to File Geodatabase:

File Geodatabase in Data Dowload

Geodatabase formats are the recommended formats  for use in ArcGIS software, being the most efficient for data storage and analysis. The format supports the use of .lyr files for styling the data and EDINA has provided some for the MasterMap data downloaded from Digimap.

The data can be added to a map in ArcGIS and QGIS in the usual way, though in QGIS you need to use Add vector layer –> Directory rather than a Database as you may assume.

Opening a Digimap File Geodatabase in QGIS

Styling information for both ArcGIS and QGIS has been provided by EDINA in .lyr and QML formats, these can be found at the bottom of Digimap’s help page for OS MasterMap. These representations give enough information to view the data in a style that OS MasterMap is commonly viewed in. The help page also contains a link to the official Ordnance Survey SLD styling information, please see the PDF that comes with the SLD files for information on how to use them.

There are help pages for adding styling information here:

If you require any help on using File Geodatabases from Digimap or any other dataset or format then please get in touch:

  • Phone: 0131 650 3302
  • Email: edina@ed.ac.uk

Share

Map updates in Digimap Roam

Posted on by

We have updated three of the mapping datasets in Digimap Roam, so you can now view mapping published as recently as June 2013.

MasterMap in May 2013MasterMap in October 2013

The products updated are:

  • OS MasterMap: used in the three most detailed zoom levels in Roam.
  • OS VectorMap Local (VML): the next most detailed maps in Roam, available as alternate “Basemaps” in the 4th and 5th most detailed zoom levels.
  • Midscale Maps: These maps are made of the Meridian 2 mapping data along with contours. Until now they had been made with Land-form PANORAMA data, but now they use the new OS Terrain 50 contours:

Digimap Roam District View

 

These midscale maps are also available in a backdrop colour scheme which can be accessed by using the Basemaps tab at the top right of the map. The faded colours allow your annotations to show more strongly:

Digimap Roam District View backdrop map with annotations

The updated datasets are also available from Digimap’s Data Download service (except MasterMap which will follow in the next few months), a page in Digimap Help details the all the OS products available and their currency in Roam and Data Download:

If you have any questions about the new data or any other issues relating to Digimap then please let us know:

  • Email: edina@ed.ac.uk
  • Tel: 0131 65o 3302

Share

Digimap Roam gets Carto features

Posted on by

We have introduced a raft of new print options to Digimap Roam;  some of these were previously only available in Carto, others are new altogether:Select your print scale in Digimap Roam

– Select your own scale for the printed map (within sensible limits)
– Print OS MasterMap at up to 1:100 scale (Carto’s limit is 1:500)
– Print at paper sizes up to A0
– Print landscape or portrait orientations (not available in Carto)

The new print options along with the formats already available mean that printing from Roam is now more flexible and powerful than Carto.

We have also added an extra zoom level to Roam’s screen maps called Building View. This shows OS MasterMap at around 1:500,  making it easier to add detailed annotations such as new buildings to your map.

OS MasterMap Views in Digimap Roam

© Crown copyright/database right 2013. Ordnance Survey/EDINA supplied service.
FOR EDUCATIONAL USE ONLYScales shown are the default print scales, screen map scale varies depending on the pixel size of your monitor / device.

With these enhancements Roam can now perform many of the tasks previously only possible with Carto.

Unfortunately, Carto has become difficult to maintain and needs to be replaced. These changes to Roam, along with some extra features planned for the coming months, will enable it to take the place of Carto. Once all the enhancements to Roam are made we will retire Carto completely; we intend to do this at the end of July 2013.

If you have any concerns about the withdrawal of Carto then please let us know:

  • Email: edina@ed.ac.uk
  • Tel: 0131 650 3302

EmailShare

Replacement of MasterMap Download

Posted on by

The functionality and datasets offered by MasterMap Download and Boundary Download are now available through the standard Data Download application. This can be found in the Download OS mapping data section of Digimap’s Ordnance Survey Collection.

This means that both MasterMap Download and Boundary Download will be withdrawn at the end of May 2013.

Download Withdrawl Notice

If you have teaching materials or course notes which are currently based on the old MasterMap Download and Boundary Download applications, please make sure you update them before these facilities are withdrawn.

If you have any concerns about this or any other issue then please contact us:

  • Email: edina@ed.ac.uk
  • Tel: 0131 650 3302

EmailShare

Digimap Data Download: New datasets coming in January!

Posted on by

In January 2013 the OS MasterMap®, Boundary-Line™ and Code-Point® data products will be available from the Data Download service. We have tried to keep the changes necessary to accommodate these products to a minimum as the current interface has proved so successful (190,000 map tiles and files downloaded Nov 2012).

Here is a list of the changes and additions you will see in the interface; please note that they may still be subject to some change prior to launch.

Both Boundary-Line and MasterMap have layers so we have had to make changes to the basket:Digimap Data Download Basket

Instead of selecting Version and Format using drop-down menus there is a new pop-up for changing both these and the layers for each of the products in your basket. You can access this pop-up by clicking on the Change link in the Options column:

Digimap Data Download Basket Options

We have also improved the “My Account” section which is now called “My Previous Downloads”:

Opening "My Previous Downloads"Once in the interface you can access any of your past downloads and reopen them at the basket stage:

Digimap Data Download My Previous Downloads

It is now much easier to update your previous downloads to the latest version, get the same data in a different format or simply reorder data you have previously taken. In addition to these functions we have incorporated the ability to make Change-Only-Updates (COUs) to MasterMap Data:

Digimap Data Download Change Only Update

Both Boundary Download and MasterMap Download will be kept in service for a transition period but as there are so many benefits to using Data Download we hope everyone will make the switch quickly. We expect to have switched off these services by the end of April.

EmailShare